in boston, a memorial to the black soldiers who fought in the union army... and in new york's central park, the famous statue of civil war general william sherman. saint gaudens suffered from periods of depression, and while working on the sherman sculpture in paris, had a recurrence that one day became unbearable. >> mccullough: it was very early in the morning, still not quite light. and what he was going to do was kill himself by jumping off this bridge. >> safer: the pont des arts. >> mccullough: the pont des arts, the "bridge of the arts." and as he got out here, probably about where we're standing, the sun began to rise, and the whole faÇade of the louvre was lit up, all the bridges. and he said to himself, "i don't want to die. i want to live." and he started whistling, and walked back up to the studio happy as can be. it was paris. paris saved his life, literally saved his life. >> safer: we moved on to the sorbonne, paris's ancient university. it changed the lives of many other americans. >> mccullough: charles sumner was here in 1838. and he had co